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Views from the Choir Loft

Hymnal of St Pius X

Veronica Brandt · March 15, 2014

Hymnal of St Pius X Dr Percy Jones’ Hymnal of St Pius X. LD AUSTRALIAN HYMNBOOKS are rather hard to find. I’m in awe of how many cheap old hymnbooks are available in America. We don’t seem to have the same volume of print runs here. I wrote a little while ago about the Living Parish Hymnbook from the 1960s, but today I have an earlier book in a similar vein.

Dr Percy Jones, choirmaster of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, put together this hymnbook back in 1952. To quote from the foreword:

This Hymnal has been compiled and edited to make it possible to carry out the expressed wishes of the Church that congregational singing should be a constant ‘living proof of the Faith,’ whether in large cities or in small villages. In the first section, containing the Gregorian Chant for sung Masses, Benediction and other occasions, an attempt has been made to solve the difficulty of reading the notation peculiar to the Chant. By retaining the Chant notation (with modifications which clarify certain obscure groupings) but using the modern staff and key signature, the Editor hopes that the advantages of both will encourage singers and choir directors to undertake Gregorian Chant.

Above is an example of Dr Jones’ hybrid chant notation. Groups of ascending notes, like the podatus, are spread out horizontally to remove any doubt as to which note is sung first. The porrectus is changed into something like an inverted torculus. I do not have a copy of this book aimed at the congregation, but it is available at the National Library of Australia in screen resolution colour.

I bought a copy of the organ book in a thrift shop some years ago. I recognised the music from photocopies from around our piano at home. Then I found a worthy cause to donate it to, but scanned it first. It was one of my first attempts at scanning a book. In frustration I left the files to languish on a hard drive. Today I was moving files over into a new computer and had another look. They are still better for printing than those of the National Library of Australia, so I finished the job and now you can have a copy too:

      * *  Download the organ edition here.

Page 120 (hymn number 43, page 106 by the printed page numbers, ) has a hymn to St Patrick suitable for singing outside the Emerald Isle:

Patrick! from your kindling
      Lit on Slane’s green hill,
Faith’s pure fire undwindling,
      Burns, all deathless, still.
Drear days could not hinder
      Warm expanse of flame:
Travail gave new tinder,
      New flint, penal shame.

Patrick! from this firing
      Faith’s brave banners unfurled,
Borne by priests desiring,
      For Christ’s sake, the world;
Hearts throbbed to their warming,
      Hope glowed where they trod,
Exiles’ loss transforming,
      To great gain for God.

Patrick! from this glowing,
      Faith’s flame mounts and towers,
Knowledge full bestowing,
      Eire’s feast is ours!
Hear us then rejoicing,
      Rising young and strong:
Gratefully glad-voicing
      Prayerful praise in song.

(Australia’s Salute to St Patrick by George D. Walton)

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Hymnbooks Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

Benedict XVI in particular felt it was wrong to prohibit the celebration of Mass in the ancient rite in parish churches, as it is always dangerous to corner a group of faithful so as to make them feel persecuted and to inspire in them a sense of having to safeguard their identity at all costs in the face of the “enemy.”

— Archbishop Georg Gänswein

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